Dave gets political with new weekly series, Unspun, with comedian Matt Forde

Thursday 21st July

It is announced today that multi-award winning broadcaster UKTV has ordered a brand new 6 x 60minute political comedy series, Unspun with Matt Forde, set to air on Dave in September.

In a time of unprecedented national and global upheaval, the most exciting voice in political comedy, Matt Forde, brings an up-to-date, fearless weekly satirical show to inject comedy into the heart of politics. Recorded the day before airing, the show will feature reactions to our fast-changing news agenda, interviews with leading political figures and additional reporting from international comedians. Unspun With Matt Forde will bring a brand new, critical style of entertainment to the UK in a time where political satire has never been more essential.

Matt Forde said,

I'm simultaneously horrified and entertained by the state of British politics so I can't wait to start making Unspun. It was either do this or become Shadow Environment Secretary and I wanted to do something credible.

Richard Watsham, UKTV's director of commissioning added,

Firstly, I'd like to thank all those people who voted in the referendum for giving us so much material to work with, there's never been a better time to make a political talk show. It's a significant step for the maturity of UKTV originations that we can take on such a topical and frankly, important series.

Steve North, general manager of Dave said,

In a year of major steps for Dave - with a move into sport, the successes of Taskmaster and Dave Gorman Modern Life Is Goodish, and the imminent arrival of Red Dwarf XI and Zapped!, we are incredibly excited to make a giant leap into the turbulent world of politics. 2016 isn't short of political stories and now more than ever it's important that satire has a voice on TV. Matt Forde will entertain audiences by bridging the gap between comedy and politics in Unspun in the Autumn.

Jon Thoday, managing director of Avalon said,

It's great that UKTV are reacting so swiftly to bring comedy to the current turmoil we face in Great Britain with Matt Forde and Unspun, a programme that fills such an obvious gap in our broadcasting landscape.

An Avalon Television production, Unspun with Matt Forde is commissioned by Richard Watsham, director of commissioning at UKTV and ordered by Dave general manager, Steve North. Executive producers for the series are Jon Thoday and Richard Allen-Turner for Avalon Television and deputy director of commissioning, Hilary Rosen for UKTV. The show's series producer is Robyn O'Brien, director is Peter Orton and producer is Dan Atkinson.

Notes to Editors

A former advisor to the Labour Party, MATT FORDE is fast becoming acknowledged as the UK's leading political comic and has appeared on The Royal Variety Performance (ITV) Have I Got News For You (BBC One), Mock The Week (BBC Two), Rory Bremner's Coalition Report and Rory Bremner's Election Report (BBC Two), 8 out of 10 Cats (Channel 4), Question Time, This Week (both BBC One), Newsnight and Daily Politics (both BBC Two). He hosts a weekly show on talkSPORT with fellow comic Jon Richardson.

MATT FORDE's London show, The Political Party, has been a sell-out during its monthly residency at Westminster's St James Theatre. MATT has brought Parliament to life with his stand-up and debate with some of the Government's most notorious figures, including TONY BLAIR, ALASTAIR CAMPBELL, MICHAEL PORTILLO, NIGEL FARAGE, NEIL KINNOCK, JACOB REES-MOGG JOHN PRESCOTT, JACK STRAW, DAME TESSA JOWELL, GEORGE GALLOWAY, JIM MURPHY and CHARLES CLARKE. The show is also released as a podcast which has been downloaded over 500,000 times, hit the top spot of the iTunes comedy chart, was picked as the Daily Telegraph's podcast of the week, picked as the Times podcast of the week and was nominated for the Internet Award in the 2015 Chortle Awards. Previous podcasts are available to download here: http://apple.co/1TSmgHZ

About Dave

Sky 111/246, Virgin 128/194, Freeview 12, BT & TalkTalk 12 On demand on Sky, Virgin and UKTV Play
Dave proudly presents a plethora of original commissions; award-winning Crackanory, Ross Noble Freewheeling, Dave Gorman's Modern Life is Goodish, and Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled, all laden with the biggest names in British comedy. Not to mention brand spanking new original series' of Hoff the Record and Taskmaster.

There's national treasures like QI, Red Dwarf X, Mock the Week and Have I Got News For You, plus the Red Bull trilogy of Cliff Diving, X-Fighters and the Soap Box races. And of course, we still have Top Gear.

Dave is the UK's most watched non-PSB channel broadcasting to over 27 million people per month, featuring hit US shows including the sharp-witted and sharp-suited Suits, the ludicrously addictive Lizard Lick Towing and the wonder that is Storage Hunters and now original commission Storage Hunters UK, the gift that keeps on giving.

About UKTV

UKTV is the biggest multichannel broadcaster in the UK.

The award-winning independent has eleven imaginative brands - UKTV Play, Dave, W, Gold, Alibi, Yesterday, Drama, Really, Home, Eden and Good Food. These include the two most popular non-PSB channels in the UK and account for 9.31% of the British commercial TV market. The company's most recent financial results showed record-breaking year-end revenue of £319m and EBITDA of £82m. It invested £148m in programming and related launches last year, and is becoming an increasingly significant investor in UK creativity.

UKTV has a truly innovative model, curating brand-defining commissions, high-profile acquisitions and the very best of BBC, alongside programmes originally shown on ITV and Channel 4. The network embraces technology to deliver inspired channels to audiences through Freeview, Sky, Virgin Media, BT, TalkTalk, YouView, Freesat, Amazon Fire and UKTV Play, and distributes its highly valued original programmes to 200 territories.

Now celebrating its 23rd year at the forefront of digital television, UKTV - an independent commercial joint venture between BBC Worldwide and Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. (SNI) - is proud to be the only British television broadcaster in The Sunday Times top 100 companies list.